The past 2015, with the taboo on holidays in Turkey and Egypt, forced many Russians to reconsider their places that had been established over the years family vacation and take a fresh look at domestic Russian tourist meccas. As it turned out, there are not so many such places in Russia. The Caucasus and the Black Sea coast are, without a doubt, good, but the wave of tourists that rushed into these places and the instantly soaring prices leave an indelible negative aftertaste in the memory of tourists.

But there are places in Russia that are no less amazing in their beauty and quality of recreation, which will not only delight tourists with their natural beauty and variety of recreation options, but will also breathe so much energy and positivity into any traveler that this vacation will remain a bright spot in his memories with a desire to return to these places again. This magical place is Lake Baikal.

Unfortunately, when mentioning a possible tourist trip to these Siberian places Many Russians have often formed baseless stereotypes that immediately discourage them from experiencing a vacation on Lake Baikal.

Let's try to figure out whether it's really worth planning your next family summer vacation on Lake Baikal and how much it might cost. What is the truth and where are the misconceptions?

Let's consider the most common questions that arise in the mind of any tourist planning to spend their holiday on the shores of Lake Baikal:

1. Baikal is very far away.

2. There is nothing to see at Lake Baikal and it is not worth spending your entire family vacation on it.

3. A trip to Baikal is very expensive.

3. There is no tourist infrastructure on Baikal.

4. There are a lot of mosquitoes on Lake Baikal and bears walk the streets.

6. You can only go to Baikal in summer

7. Baikal has cold water and beach summer rest impossible there.

8. Going to Baikal on your own is scary! - how to get to attractions? how to build routes? where to stay for accommodation? How to get around all the interesting things in a few days?

So, let’s debunk the myths about holidays on Lake Baikal.

MYTH 1. BAIKAL IS VERY FAR AWAY

Baikal is not at all the outskirts of Russia. Our country is so large that in fact Lake Baikal is located practically in the geographical center of Russia, exactly halfway between Kaliningrad and Vladivostok.

The distance from the capital of our Motherland to Lake Baikal is about 5000 km with a flight time of about 5 hours. This is little more than a flight to Antalya or Hurghada (3.5 and 4 hours respectively). Moreover, the time of departure from Moscow (late evening) and arrival back (early morning) was chosen very conveniently and the road was not at all tiring.

There are two ways to get to Lake Baikal:

- By plane

From Moscow- direct flight to Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude. Aeroflot, UTair, and others fly to Irkutsk from Moscow. Ural Airlines" and S7. In Ulan-Ude - Aeroflot, Transaero, S7 and Yakutia. As a rule, flights are evening. Travel time is 5-6 hours.

From Saint-Petersburg- direct flight to Irkutsk by Ural Airlines and Rossiya airlines.

You can also fly to Baikal from other cities: Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Perm, Tyumen, Surgut, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Mirny, Tomsk, Barnaul, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yakutsk . Flight time is from 2 to 8 hours.

- By train

From Moscow you can travel without transfers to Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Baikalsk and Severobaikalsk. From St. Petersburg - only to Irkutsk. The journey from Moscow or St. Petersburg will take up to 4 days.

Stations in the south of Baikal Slyudyanka, Tankhoi, Baikalsk in the summer are used to transport tourist groups to the Khamar-Daban mountains; in the winter a ski resort operates in Baikalsk.

MYTH 2. THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE AT BAIKAL AND YOU SHOULD NOT SPEND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY VACATION ON IT

Baikal is so multifaceted and unique in terms of options and vacation spots that it is impossible to explore all its beauties even over several vacations! There is almost everything for any type of holiday.

Those wishing to find a worthy alternative to a beach holiday can recommend the Small Sea Strait and the Eastern coast of Lake Baikal, where the warm and clear waters of the bays, gorgeous white sand and an abundance of sunny days will provide a great time for the whole family.

And believe me, one vacation to explore all the beauty of Baikal will definitely not be enough for you!

Choose your favorite vacation option on Lake Baikal from the variety of species

MYTH 3. A TRIP TO BAIKAL IS VERY EXPENSIVE

More than half of those who come to Baikal are students and pensioners, whose income is quite modest!

Let's look at prices on Lake Baikal in more detail and consider vacation options on Lake Baikal.

The biggest cost component when traveling to Lake Baikal is the flight.

Currently, a flight from Moscow to Irkutsk will cost 12 thousand rubles one way. per person. By train the price is much lower (from 3.5 rubles for a one-way ticket), but not everyone wants to spend more than 3 days in a carriage.

Accordingly, the cost of a round trip flight will be within 25 thousand rubles. per person (Aeroflot provides discounts for pensioners). The rest of the costs depend on your holiday option on Lake Baikal.

Option 1 - vacation through a travel agency

Basically, Baikal tour operators include in their tour package all expenses from the moment they meet you at the airport (Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude) and board the plane back. You pay for the flight yourself.

The advantages of such a vacation are that all questions regarding the organization of your vacation are decided for you by the tour operator. At the same time, in a limited vacation time you can cover as many attractions as possible. But for this you have to pay for a tour package in addition to the flight.

The cost of a tour package depends on the time of year, the duration of the trip and the level of amenities. On average, a week's accommodation with excursions, meals and trips to attractions included will range from 15 to 40 rubles. per person. You can find out more about the prices for tours around Lake Baikal in these sections:

- summer tours to Lake Baikal
- winter tours to Baikal

Option 2 - independent holiday on Lake Baikal

Those who are used to counting money and are not ready to overpay can be offered an independent holiday on Lake Baikal. And don’t be afraid of difficulties - more than 70% of tourists coming to Lake Baikal choose this particular vacation option. Obvious advantages - independent choice routes and costs. At the same time, you can stay for accommodation either in any of the numerous camp sites on Baikal (prices from 500 rubles per day without meals), or in a tent on any section of the Baikal coast that you like - fortunately, there are a huge number of such picnics and places on Baikal.

All the variety of independent recreation on Lake Baikal, attractions, contacts and places of accommodation can be explored in separate article.

And if you want to see the route on the map and choose the appropriate one, then go to the page with maps of routes to all the sights of Lake Baikal.

Option 3 - a trip around Lake Baikal with a guide

If you have a rational approach to money and are not ready to purchase expensive tours, but at the same time want to protect yourself as much as possible from possible misunderstandings during the trip and make it as educational as possible, then numerous experienced tour guides can help you. For relatively little money they can help you with planning your route, organizing transfers to vacation spots and activities. interesting excursions. Here is a list of verified and experienced Baikal guides.

4 Recreation option - volunteering

If you want to see Baikal in all its grandeur and not only not spend a penny on the trip, but also earn money, then you can come to these amazing places as a volunteer. There are a huge number of protected areas on Lake Baikal and helpers are needed here at any time of the year. Since 2003, the international project “Great Baikal Trail” has been implemented on Lake Baikal. You can choose any of numerous nature reserves of Lake Baikal and declare your desire to come as a volunteer.

The choice of holiday option is yours!

But pay attention to the MAIN RULE OF ANY VACATION ON BAIKAL - after your stay, the vacation spot should remain at least as clean as before your arrival! Be friends with your conscience!

MYTH 4. THERE IS NO TOURIST INFRASTRUCTURE ON BAIKAL

Baikal is really not Türkiye and not even Black Sea coast. That is why these places still remain pure, sacred and full of energy and strength. But it is precisely this circumstance that attracts millions of tourists from all over the world to the shores of Lake Baikal every year. More than half of the territory of Lake Baikal is occupied by National parks and nature reserves and staying in these territories imposes certain obligations in relation to nature and the development of tourism infrastructure.

The trip to Baikal begins with arrival in the regional cities of Irkutsk (60 km northwest of Lake Baikal) and Ulan-Ude (70 km southeast). These metropolitan merchant cities have so much originality and legendary history that it is definitely worth spending at least a couple of days getting to know them.

As for the tourist infrastructure on the coast of Baikal itself, it is no less than in Altai or Kamchatka. In any place of tourist activity there will always be recreation centers, cafes, ATMs and shuttle buses.

Nevertheless, many travelers come to Baikal precisely to see its wild nature and pristine beauty. This is also enough here. But in this case, do not expect any benefits of civilization and first study the Boy Scout handbook and advice from experienced people;)

MYTH 5. THERE ARE A LOT OF MOSQUITOES ON BAIKAL AND BEARS WALK THE STREETS

Here the answer will be short.

There are absolutely no mosquitoes on the coast of Lake Baikal! The cold waters of the lake are unacceptable for the development of the larvae of this insect, which, as is known, develop only in warm water.

Bears often come ashore on Lake Baikal. Photo by Umar Ramazanov

Bears are found only in the northern part of the lake and are dangerous during the period after hibernation (April-May). During the rest of the period, it is a very cautious predator and tries not to catch the eye of humans. Almost throughout the entire territory of Lake Baikal, where they take place tourist routes, the likelihood of meeting this owner of the taiga is extremely low. Behind last years Cases of encounters between tourists and bears are rare and none with a fatal outcome.

MYTH 6. ON BAIKAL THE TOURIST SEASON IS ONLY IN SUMMER

You can relax on Lake Baikal all year round!

At any time of the year there is something to see and do on Baikal; you can come to Baikal all year round - in summer, autumn, winter and spring. Most warm months the summer season is July and August, and to enjoy winter activities on Lake Baikal it is better to come in February-March, when the lake is covered with the strongest ice.
A stunning, unforgettable vacation is possible at different times of the year!

You can learn more about seasonal holidays on Lake Baikal using a separate link.

And choose a vacation option on Lake Baikal in any season

MYTH 7. BAIKAL HAS COLD WATER AND A BEACH HOLIDAY IS IMPOSSIBLE

At any time of the year at depth, Baikal has a constant water temperature of + 4 degrees. But almost along the entire coast of Baikal in the bays in the summer season (from mid-July to the end of August), the average water temperature reaches +20 degrees. And given that Baikal is one of the sunniest places in Russia, any tourist will be able to combine sunbathing and water treatments, diluting the relaxing bodily rest with visits to many cultural and ethnic attractions.

Particularly noteworthy in part beach holiday Baikal places such as Maloye More and the Eastern coast of Baikal, where the water in the bays warms up to +25 degrees. These are ideal places for a beach holiday on Lake Baikal.

MYTH 8. GOING TO BAIKAL BY YOURSELF IS SCARY

This is perhaps the most pressing question for all travelers who are planning an independent holiday on Lake Baikal.
Every year more than a million tourists come to Baikal as savages and before they could not find detailed information about independent rest, since most descriptions of Lake Baikal are on commercial websites of tour operators selling tours or personal pages of tourists who have visited Lake Baikal with highly emotional and subjective posts.

Seeing this situation, we launched the Baikal Fan mobile application.

Now any user of mobile devices, relaxing on Lake Baikal without access to the Internet, can find out all the information he needs about all the most interesting places recreation, events and mapped routes to the most beautiful sights of Lake Baikal.

To do this, you just need to install our guide on your mobile phone and your personal guide-assistant around Lake Baikal will always be in your pocket!
And most importantly, from March 15, 2016, this mobile guide can be downloaded and installed on your phone absolutely free of charge!

For those who have constant access to the Internet, our guide section will help you choose a vacation spot on Lake Baikal, which contains detailed and reliably verified information about all the most interesting sights of the Baikal region with detailed description routes to vacation spots, as well as detailed Yandex maps with the sights of Lake Baikal marked. The guide is constantly updated with new articles about this unique lake.

And since you have already read this article to the end and you are interested in the opportunity to visit the fabulous Baikal places, then here is a link to help you to our free guidebook, which presents advice from experienced travelers to Baikal and has answers to all the most frequently asked questions about a trip to Baikal .

TAKE BAIKAL WITH YOU!

DANGERS ON BAIKAL

Tourists traveling to Lake Baikal must
take into account its specific, to a certain extent inherent, features. This fact is hard to deny. It is repeatedly confirmed by those who were lucky enough to walk along the Baikal trails for at least a hundred kilometers. Our group is no exception. Therefore, everyone going to Baikal must remember that trials await him, and even dangers await him.
We are talking about real dangers that, without radically affecting the outcome of the trip, can take you by surprise and complicate matters.

Cedar elfin wood

This is an original half-tree - half-shrub. It cannot be found in areas west of Lake Baikal. This plant occupies the zone of the upper limit of the existence of woody vegetation and reaches a height of 6 meters or more. Elf wood creates almost impenetrable thickets. It snags and tears clothes, clogs your eyes, and forces you to crawl under branches or crawl over them. Moreover, in areas where dwarf cedar grows, there is a high risk of fire, because Even in its raw form, elfin wood in mass burns like a torch.

Climatic features

They are determined, on the one hand, by the central location of Baikal on
the Asian continent, and on the other hand, by the softening effect of the lake itself. Winter on the coast is 6-10 degrees warmer than in the border areas. Maximum amplitudes average monthly temperatures there the lowest in Siberia is 30-35 degrees. A very important feature of Baikal is the cyclical nature of the winds. The climate of the basin is characterized by local, strong winds, after which storms break out on the lake, raging for several days. It should also be noted that there are sharp daily temperature fluctuations and prolonged downpours.

Mite

It is the causative agent of a very serious disease of the nervous system - encephalitis. There is no area on Lake Baikal where this danger does not exist.
Tick-borne encephalitis is a natural focal disease.
A natural focus of TBE requires the presence of the main triad: pathogen, carrier and donor animal.
The causative agent of encephalitis is the TBE virus.
The carrier of encephalitis is the tick.
In their development, ixodid ticks go through 4 phases: egg, larva, nymph, and mature ticks.
The female is larger than the male and in nature she appears brick red, while the male is dark brown. In other respects, the sizes of both are very modest: the female is 3-4 mm, the male is 2-3 mm long. The body of a female that has drunk blood reaches 2-2.5 cm in length.
Once fertilized and sucked on the blood of the host, the female lays eggs on the ground in damp places.
The outside of the tick's body is covered with dense chitin, and in males the dorsal shield covers the entire dorsal surface of the body, and in females only the part closest to the head end. The rest of the body is covered with more flexible, soft chitin, capable of stretching when the intestines of the klesha fill with blood during blood sucking. On the ventral side, the body of the male ixodid tick is covered with chitinous plates (scutes) separated by grooves.

On the abdominal side of adult ticks there are anal and genital openings: the latter is absent in larvae and nymphs. At the base of the fourth pair of legs on both sides of the tick's body there are oval-shaped respiratory plates; His olfactory organs are apparently connected with them. Adult ticks and nymphs have 4 pairs of jointed legs, while larvae have only 3 pairs. The junction of the leg with the body of the tick is called the coxa, followed by the swivel, femur, tibia, pretarsus and tarsus.

Donor animals

The most likely way of spreading the disease under study is a human bite from an infected tick. Man breeds ticks himself. 13 The climate is changing as a result of human activity. In addition, the maximum number of ticks occurs exactly where a person once worked. Different roles of rodents in maintaining the circulation of the TBE virus. Oriental voles, rat-like hamsters, house mice and baby mice were sensitive to the virus. Various insectivores - shrews, shrews, hedgehogs - feed ixodid ticks. Larvae and nymphs feed mainly on small mouse-like animals, adult ticks feed mainly on large animals. Birds can feed ticks of all three phases.
Without vertebrates, neither the circulation of the virus in the outbreak nor the existence of ticks is possible.

Prevention of tick-borne encephalitis

All persons traveling during the epidemic season to territories where natural foci of TBE are registered are vaccinated against TBE.

Vaccination consists of 3 vaccinations. The first two vaccinations are carried out in the autumn-winter period with an interval of 14-30 days, no later than January 20. The third three months after the second vaccination, but no later than 14 days before leaving for the forest. Revaccination annually.

Conditions for protection against ticks

Tucking in clothes is to prevent the tick from penetrating the human body; for this, a jacket or shirt is tucked into trousers and a belt is placed around the top; the trousers are tucked under a thick stocking. The collar of outerwear should fit tightly around the neck.
Conduct regular self-examinations and mutual examinations.
The choice of vacation spot is very important. The field camp should be set up in areas without woody vegetation. The selected area should be dry and open. The camp should not be located near cattle tracks, animal watering places and pastures, where there are usually more ticks. The device should not be allowed near mills, landfills, or household waste, as they attract rodents that can carry ticks.

Actions when bitten

In the case where the tick has recently attached itself, it is quite easy to tear it off. When it has managed to firmly establish itself on the skin, it must be lubricated with any fat, vegetable oil or petroleum jelly; as a result of this procedure, the tick’s spiracles located on the abdomen are covered up, and the tick itself, trying to free itself, weakens its “grip”. After 15-20 minutes, the tick comes off with little effort. In the case when you have unsuccessfully tried to pull out the tick, you have killed the tick, use a strong thread that is looped over the base of the proboscis and tightened, then pulled up.
It happens that you tear off the body of the tick, but the sucking apparatus remains in the skin. The proboscis must be removed and it is advisable that this operation be performed by a doctor. If it is not removed, a painful abscess appears at this site and does not heal for a long time. The wound must be “treated” with iodine. After removing the tick, immunoglobulin is injected intramuscularly.

As a result of a study conducted by a student of our school, Irina Kravtsova (1998), recommendations were developed for those who are planning a trip to Lake Baikal.

For guys going to Lake Baikal for the first time, we can recommend the following rules:

1) Avoid hiking in May and June.
2) You cannot take unvaccinated children on hikes.
3) Immunoglobulin is an expensive and rare medicine, so an application for it must be made about six months in advance at the regional SES.
4) Periodic self-examinations and mutual examinations must be carried out.
5) It is advisable to locate the parking lot in an open place away from woody vegetation; you cannot spend the night in huts.
6) Be very careful in deciduous forests and exercise extreme caution in areas where wild garlic is found, since most tick attacks occur in such places.

Meeting with a bear

This can happen on Lake Baikal EVERYWHERE. True, this is an exceptional case - it is a sensitive animal and, as a rule, seeks to hide.
Being a very common animal in the Baikal region, it nevertheless tries not to catch the eye of humans.

IN large quantities The brown bear comes to the shores of Lake Baikal during the mass appearance of the caddisfly butterfly - from the beginning to the end of June.

There are four possible cases of a bear attack:
a) the bear is a connecting rod,
b) the female is forced to protect the cubs,
c) a wounded animal is pursued,
d) bear on close range caught
taken by surprise.
The most dangerous of these cases is the fourth, when a bear allows a bear to come close to itself while sleeping or eating.

There has never been a case of tourists being harmed by a bear on Lake Baikal. However, in all cases one cannot treat the bear as a good-natured hero of Russian fairy tales. The bear has its own animal concepts of safety, the instinct of self-preservation can awaken at the most unexpected moment.

Mountain rivers

Many underestimate them, considering them small and not posing much of a threat, but this only seems at first glance. Such ignorance has more than once led to unnecessary casualties during crossings. The significant development of the river network, combined with the sharply dissected relief forms of the valley slopes, causes a lot of trouble for tourists.

Nasty

Gnus is the most terrible scourge of the taiga. According to experts, during a mass attack of the midges, people’s labor productivity decreases, injuries increase, and people are deprived of normal sleep and rest. Bloodsuckers can be carriers of pathogens of various diseases.
Gnus is a popular collective name for a number of blood-sucking insects common in the Siberian taiga (horseflies, midges, miniature woodlice), “the punishment of the Siberian taiga.” In some areas this word is replaced by another - midge. Lena has a bitch on her.

A pleasant feature of Baikal is the absence of midges and mosquitoes on its beaches. This happens due to the wind characteristics of the lake - constant winds blowing from the lake’s waters blow the midge deep into the shore.

Independent travel is freedom. But to make the trip to the very deep lake world was unforgettable, it is worth planning well. Especially if you eat Baikal as savages and don’t take package tour and you don’t plan to live in one of the tourist villages on the shores of Lake Baikal all the time.

There are many nuances regarding choosing a place to stay, necessary things and routes, which we will try to talk about in this article.

Tip: to plan your trip more thoughtfully, you can study ready-made tours of Lake Baikal, which describe all the points on the route (for example,) and borrow interesting ideas.

If you are traveling to Baikal with children, you will find it useful.

Detailed instructions on how to get by plane or train to the settlements closest to Lake Baikal. The further journey depends on the specific place you have chosen to visit.

And, as well as (if you are traveling through Ulan-Ude), which are worth going to, and, from which the journey usually begins.

The lake greatly influences the climate around it due to the fact that large bodies of water either absorb or release heat at different times. In spring, when the ice melts, the coast is cool until the very end of June.

But until October there is a beautiful, warm autumn here - in July and August, Baikal gets enough of the sun and slowly shares it.

Winters here are mild, but the winds constantly blow, and the temperature feels lower than it is.

The golden months for a trip are the tourist season on Lake Baikal - July and August (September is also warm, but at the height of the storm season). At this time, you can sunbathe and swim on the lake without fear of catching a cold; the temperature is usually between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.

How to look for a deserted place

There are more and more tourists on the lake every year, so many places are crowded. Especially in places like Olkhon Island or Slyudyanka.

If anyone wants to relax alone, the solution is to take a tent, get to any tourist spot, and from there make one or two hikes along the shore.

For example, from Maksimikha along the bank to the right you can walk in four hours to the wonderful deserted beach and settle down there. It’s not far from civilization, but there are few people. Here you can swim in the warm Barguzin Bay or lie on the sand. If living in a tent is not interesting, then you can go up from the shore and rent a room from local residents, 500-600 rubles per day.

The most wild places of Baikal- this is the taiga northeast, the vicinity of Severobaikalsk: Dzelinda, Khakusy, Lake Frolikha. Dense forests, mountains, lakes preserved from the last ice age... Those for whom vacation is an adventure go here. You can stop at the Khakusa recreation center, and from there explore the surrounding area by boat.

If you get to Severobaikalsk by train, then it’s easy to get to Khakusa: a couple of hours by boat and you’re there. From Irkutsk either by plane or on a scheduled ship, you will have to pay from 5 thousand for travel.

Main tourist places

Even a savage with a tent may sooner or later need civilization or want to visit the remarkable places of Lake Baikal. We have described the attractions in detail, use it to plan your route. Below are the main points where infrastructure is developed, where you can easily rent a house, go to a cafe or shop, or find an ATM.

Where to look for housing

The tourism infrastructure on Lake Baikal is developed - you can rent accommodation in virtually any locality, prices range from 450 to 20,000 per day, depending on the level of comfort.

There are sites on the Internet dedicated to the topic:

http://baikalov.ru/ - there you can book a room, a house, a hotel room anywhere on the Baikal coast, and a room for 300 rubles, and luxury apartments for a couple of tens of thousands of rubles;
http://tvil.ru/ offers rentals not only on Baikal, but all over the world, so here you can rent a house or cottage only in the most popular places, the cost is quite high, from 8,000 per day;
http://na-ozero.ru/, prices here are low, from 500 rubles per day;
baikal-raduga.ru - guest house in Maksimikha - a proven place. It only accommodates 12 people and must be booked in advance. But the rest will be wonderful - in the forest, not far from wild beach, with a bathhouse. Accommodation without meals 850 rubles per day, meals 1100 (excellently prepared dishes of Buryat cuisine in a cozy dining room).

Although real savages prefer tents.

Useful online resources about Baikal for independent travelers

1. http://baikaler.ru/ - detailed guide to Lake Baikal.
2. http://www.magicbaikal.ru/ - virtual tour of the lake and its shores.
3. http://www.skitalets.ru, http://forum.awd.ru/, http://www.bpclub.ru/ are forums for independent travelers and tourists, there are a lot of useful information specifically for trip planning.

What you need to take with you to Baikal

1. 1. Set of warm clothes- a must even in hot July and August. At any moment, a cold wind can blow in from the mountains or from the lake; at night the temperature drops sharply, and at dawn it drops even lower.
   2. Mosquito and tick repellents- taiga forests mainly grow along the shores of Lake Baikal, so you need to protect yourself from blood-sucking insects.
   3. Ointment for burns Should be in your first aid kit, sunburns are common. The first aid kit must be fully stocked - the necessary medications are not always available even in hotels. You can read about how to collect it on any travel forum.
   4. Compulsory medical insurance policy And tick insurance.
   5. Comfortable shoes- on Baikal, most of the routes are pedestrian, so as not to kill your legs on the very first day, you need to take a pair in which you can definitely walk several kilometers in a row.

1. Cash. In many places, of course, they pay by card, but there are no ATMs in the taiga yet. If you want to go further away, take cash and do not take large bills - there is nowhere to change them.
2. If you get motion sickness, take medicine; you will have to travel a lot by bus or car, and to Olkhon and distant lakes - by ferry.

Things to know and remember

• Protect yourself and your companions by doing this before your trip. special insurance for travelers (it is issued by any major insurance company).
• Find out about everything in advance, buy tickets in advance, book accommodation - there are a lot of tourists, it’s even better to find a place to camp in a tent before the trip, at least approximately.
• Don't eat at all unfamiliar food(unless you are an extreme gourmet) and do not get carried away with Buryat cuisine - one of its main components is lamb fat; if you are not used to it, you can seriously upset your stomach and liver.
• Parking area near the water Don’t do it at night - there is a tide on Lake Baikal!

Who is still thinking about whether to go to Baikal or not, watch this educational film about the nature of the lake, the geography and culture of the peoples living around it:

Despite this fact, you should not neglect precautions, since there are indeed ticks in all regions of Siberia. If you want to walk along the coastal Baikal hills or through the forest, you may encounter this unpleasant insect. But if you take basic precautions, your trip will not be marred by an encounter with a tick. In addition, our tours are not conducted in places where the likelihood of tick bites is high. The tick is moisture-loving, does not like direct sunlight and prefers to live in shaded and moist deciduous and mixed forests with tall grass, littered with windbreaks. Ticks concentrate on grass, branches of bushes along forest paths and paths. Contrary to widespread misconception, ticks do not jump onto people from birch trees. The tick lies in wait for its victim by climbing onto the grass up to 1 meter high, clinging to the clothing or fur of the animal and crawling upward, looking for a place to bite. Most often it is found on the head, neck, and shoulders. This gives the false impression that the ticks fell from above.

How to protect yourself from a tick bite?

Dress correctly!
When going to mountainous forest areas, it is preferable to wear light-colored clothing (as ticks are more visible on them). Clothes must have long sleeves and a hood; if there is no hood, wear a hat or cap and tie your hair in a ponytail or braid. It is better to tuck your trouser legs into your socks.
Use protective equipment (repellents)
All repellents can be divided into 3 groups:
1. Tick repellents
For example, “Biban”, “DEFI-Taiga”, “Off! Extreme", "Gall-RET", "Gal-RET-cl", "Deta-VOKKO", "Reftamid maximum"
They are applied to clothing and exposed areas of the body in the form of circular stripes around the knees, ankles and chest. It must be applied before each trip to the forest. These products can also be used to protect against midges. It can be applied not only to clothes, but also to the skin.

2. Repellents that kill ticks, for example, “Reftamid taiga”, “Picnic-Antiklesh”, “Gardex aerosol extreme”, “Tornado-Antiklesh”, “Fumitoks-antiklesh”, “Gardex-antiklesh”, “Permanon”. These drugs are applied only to clothing. Before treatment, clothing should be removed, the repellent should be thoroughly sprayed, special attention should be paid to the treatment of trouser legs (it is advisable to also treat the underside of the trouser leg to a height of 10-15 cm), trouser waistband, cuffs, and collar. After treatment, the clothes should dry a little, then they can be worn again. Shoes also need to be treated with repellent. A killer repellent usually lasts 15 days, but wet weather can shorten its duration.

3. Combined repellents (killing and repelling ticks), their effectiveness when used correctly is close to 100 percent. These are “Kra-rep” and “Mosquito-anti-mite” aerosols.

It is most preferable to use drugs of the second and third groups. Laboratory tests have proven that with proper use of repellents, 95-99% of attached ticks are repelled.
Every 30 minutes you need to inspect your clothes, conduct a thorough check every 2-3 hours, pay special attention to the following parts of the body: neck, armpits, groin area, ears - in these places the skin is especially delicate and thin, and the tick is most often attached there . If you find a tick on your clothing, you need to carefully remove it and burn it (or put it in a hermetically sealed container and destroy it when possible).
If a tick does bite you, do not try to remove it yourself; seek help from a guide or the nearest emergency room.

If you follow basic precautions, self-defense and hygiene, you will not encounter a tick!

Tour to Baikal without ticks!

Why can Baikal make you sick for life? How do local shamans control the weather and what does the tiny golomyanka fish taste like? Valery Sokolenko, the creator of the Baikal Fan project, spoke about this and much more during a lecture organized in the Muzeon art park by the Trip Secrets project together with the Afisha-Mir publication. Lenta.ru publishes excerpts from his speech.

Sea Baikal

Never say “Lake Baikal” - the locals really don’t like that. Baikal is not a lake, but a sea. Its length is 625 kilometers, its maximum depth is one kilometer 652 meters, its width is up to 65 kilometers, and the wave height reaches 15 meters. 80 percent of the flora and fauna of Lake Baikal are endemic - living creatures that are not repeated anywhere else in the world.

Baikal is 25 million years old, and scientists have proven that it is literally in its infancy. The lake expands in width and length, goes into the Tunka Valley, on opposite sides of which there are mountains. On Khamar-Daban, the oldest ridge, there is great freeride, magnificent ski slopes. In this regard, it is an order of magnitude better than the Caucasus. Baikalsk, located near Khamar-Daban, has low prices, free ski lifts and excellent infrastructure. Two years ago, the only enterprise in this city that somewhat spoiled the ecology of Lake Baikal was closed - a pulp and paper mill. Although in fact it is very difficult to spoil it, because it is a self-cleaning reservoir.

There are no mosquitoes on the shore of Lake Baikal in the Listvyanka area (although it is possible in the forest), because the water temperature is plus four degrees. Mosquito larvae do not live at this temperature.

The strongest wind on Baikal is called sarma, because it bursts out of the Sarma gorge. Its speed is 250-300 kilometers per hour. He destroys everything, it’s impossible to stand. Ships that do not have time to land are immediately broken and destroyed by Sarma. In this case, it appears and disappears instantly, for only three to five minutes. Sarma rarely blows in winter; most often it happens in the off-season - in early autumn and spring.

On the eastern coast of Lake Baikal there are warm beaches and sora bays with water temperatures up to plus 20. Fishing there is excellent: large pike, ide, perch (there is also sturgeon, but you can’t catch it). There are mosquitoes here, but there are not as many as they say and they are not as bad.

What to see

Most of my friends who come for three days check the “I was there” box, and then write down twenty other places on Lake Baikal where they want to visit. My grandmother, who is 75 years old, said: “I’ll come and have a look - and that’s it, bury me.” Now she has plans, she is planning where else to go on Lake Baikal.

I don't know any other places like this in Russia. Sixty kilometers one way means kayaking, swimming, fishing, and jeeping in winter. Sixty kilometers to the other are mountains: alpine skiing, snowmobiling, climbing and rock climbing. Twenty kilometers in the third direction is aquatic species sports, including extreme ones. Baikal features all six levels of river complexity, from standing water to waterfalls. If you want to fly, you can do it on a paraglider and on Yak-12 aircraft.

The ice on Lake Baikal is transparent. In Moscow ponds its thickness is 10-15 centimeters, and fish and algae are not visible under it. The thickness of Baikal ice is from a meter to one and a half, it can withstand an excavator. But if a fish or seaweed swims underneath you, you will see it.

However, it should be remembered that Baikal is a living organism, and its ice is free to move. Today you can drive along one section and nothing will happen, but tomorrow a crack will form in this place. Considering the thickness of the ice and the depth of the reservoir, it is unlikely that you will be pulled out. Therefore, you should only drive around Lake Baikal with trusted people - “ice captains”.

There is a myth that the season on Lake Baikal is only in summer. This is wrong. In summer, Lake Baikal is high season - for tourists who like to warm their bellies. First of all, such tourists go to the village of Listvyanka - as everyone calls it, “the tourist Mecca of Lake Baikal.” The water is cold, you can’t swim there, 10 meters from the shore the depth is already 150 meters.

Photo: Alexander Miridonov / Kommersant

You walk and think: what is there to see here? ABOUT! Fish market. You see an omul, you want to buy it, and the seller asks: “Where are you from?” - “From Moscow” - “350 rubles head” - “How 350?!” - “Okay, take the tail for 350.” Walk a little further from the main road, and there will be huts of local residents. They catch this fish themselves and sell it for 50 rubles.

The coolest Baikal delicacy is omul. No matter how it is prepared: smoked, dried, and omul on the rostrum is the highlight. It is prepared like this: sticks are stuck on the sides of the fire, salted fish is placed on them, cuts are made, and fried.

Baikal is home to the golomyanka, an endemic fish so transparent that you can literally read through it. If you leave it on a stone under the rays of the sun, it will disappear - only the eyes and bone formations on the fins will remain. Forty percent of the fish is fish oil, and it tastes like candy. This is not a commercial fish; it is not harvested. Golomyanka is only caught local residents as an exception.

But the most popular endemic is still not the golomyanka, but the nerpa, the Baikal seal. This is a real miracle, and its baby squirrels are especially touching. They are born in winter, white in color, to blend in with the snow and avoid being eaten by predators. On the one hand, the seal is plump (after all, it lives in cold water), on the other hand, in terms of agility it is not inferior to a torpedo. When we were kayaking, a boat overtook us, and suddenly we saw a seal overtaking the boat. For 15 years, a ban was imposed on catching this animal. But if at the time of its introduction there were about 200 thousand seals, now there are more than one and a half million. They are now removing it from the Red Book and starting to catch it.

In early spring

Until June, the water in Baikal is very cold, you cannot swim. Ice drift begins here at the end of April and ends just by the end of June. The only official trip in the world on an ice floe is held here - not along the reservoir itself, but along the Angara River, at the beginning of the ice drift. It begins in Listvyanka, which is located at its source. An ice floe breaks off there and floats downstream for a distance of 30-40 kilometers. Of course, a hovercraft is floating nearby and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is watching all this.

The Angara is an ice-free river, and it also has the largest source in the world. 336 rivers flow into Baikal, but only one flows out - the Angara. Why doesn't it freeze? Let us remember that the water temperature of Baikal is plus four, and it is this that makes up the current of the Angara.

I recommend coming to Baikal from early March to mid-April. A huge number of festivals are held there at this time. winter species sports. You need to go to the Small Sea (near Olkhon, this is the center of Baikal) - ice jeeping, skating, and skysurfing await you there. Finally, you can simply walk on the Baikal ice.

Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / RIA Novosti

Olkhon and Tazheran steppes

The plane does not fly directly to Baikal, it flies either to Irkutsk, located 60 kilometers from the western side of the reservoir, or to Ulan-Ude, located approximately the same distance from the eastern coast. If you want to see Olkhon Island, Arshan, the most beautiful Peschanaya Bay in Russia, go to the Tunka Valley and ride alpine skiing- I recommend getting there through Irkutsk. If you want to swim in warm waters- drive through Ulan-Ude.

If you have ever seen Martian landscapes, the Tazheran steppes, lying along the last section of the road to the Small Sea, are very similar to them. There are several Neolithic caves there (they are one and a half to two million years old). The largest cave in Russia, Okhotnichya, is located on Lake Baikal. It has not yet been fully examined, but skeletons of prehistoric animals have already been found there.

There is also Mount Yohe Yordo with a perfectly round base, where the Mongolian-Buryat Olympic Games are held. One of the sports presented at this “Olympiad” is throwing stones, and these are not just stones, but boulders weighing 50-70 kilograms. The games take place every two years in mid-June.

From the Tazheran steppes you can only get to Olkhon by ferry, which is located in the village of Sakhyurta. It is free, since this route is considered a federal one.

Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / RIA Novosti

In addition to its original nature, Olkhon Island is the center of Russian Buddhism and shamanism. Many people imagine shamans as dense people in strange clothes who heal diseases. In fact, only one thing is true: they heal. These people are also some of the most educated.

A real shaman lives in Olkhon (believe me, there are not many of them in the world) - Valentin Khagdaev, we often communicate with him. He has two educations - Oxford and Moscow State University. He can control the weather with his tambourine (this may seem funny, but when you see it for yourself, you will understand that it is true). Khagdaev is a shaman of the fifth level out of nine possible. The fifth level is two tambourines, clothes and the ability to predict rain and read any person.

The power of Baikal’s energy is such that you are charged with energy for a year. You will get sick of Baikal and dream of going there again.